Sonos announced earlier this week that it would end support for some of its older devices after May 20, which would also prevent newer devices in a Sonos system from receiving updates and features.
The move would essentially force anyone with a mix of older and newer Sonos devices to upgrade their older models if they wanted their newer models to continue receiving new updates and features.
The move proved unpopular among Sonos owners who complained throughout social media channels, many of whom said they'd need to replace several smart speakers. Some claimed that more than a dozen speakers would need to be replaced if they wanted to continue getting new updates and features, which would cost them thousands over what they had spent on their original speakers.
Recognizing the backlash, Sonos CEO Patrick Spence announced on Thursday that the company was "working on a way to split your system" so that newer models would continue to get updates, even if older models were present in a system.
Spence's letter also serves as an apology to unhappy Sonos customers. "We heard you. We did not get this right from the start. My apologies for that and I wanted to personally assure you of the path forward," he said.
To clear up any confusion about older Sonos devices and how they'd function, Spence assured customers that older devices "will continue to work as they do today. We are not bricking them, we are not forcing them into obsolescence, and we are not taking anything away ... While legacy Sonos products won't get new software features, we pledge to keep them updated with bug fixes and security patches for as long as possible."
This series of events is another reminder of how modern technology doesn't typically last forever, no matter how much money we spend on it. In Sonos's original announcement, the company said that the older hardware in its legacy devices would prevent its speakers from keeping up with newer features and innovations.
Indeed, Sonos smart speakers — and anything that's "smart" — are essentially computers, as they run on similar hardware as computers. And like old computers, smart devices slow down over time as new features require more and more processing power. Then, there comes a point where old hardware simply can't run new features altogether, which is what's happening with older Sonos devices.
